Its difficult not to feel nostalgic about a place where you have spent the best parts of the best years of your life. And that difficulty borders onto an improbable impossibility when that place happens to be Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan's V.M Public School, Baroda. Apart from my family and my biological antecedents, quite frankly, the biggest contribution in my life so far has been from my school. The fourteen years that I spent in Bhavans as a student have been nothing less than a roller coaster ride - academic highs and disciplinary lows, splendid glory and stifled fury, courage claimed and shyness shed, respect won and ego wounded, friendships forged and boundaries broken, pre-exam phobias and post-exam euphorias, peer pressures and collective adventures - it was such a heady mixture of contrasting elements that the intoxicating smells of it still makes my senses reel. As I replay those fourteen years in my mind, I can still feel the hormones within my body stand up in rapt attention ready to surrender to an impending emotional outburst. Being a Bhavanite was then, and still is, a matter of pride that cannot be bartered for any worldly treasure.
My first memories of Bhavans revolve around its gargantuan dimensions. It is quite understandable to feel belittled when you enter Bhavans and take in its vast expanse - an area that could comfortably lodge a dozen normal-sized schools. And then there were those typical entities and locations that were so dear to every Bhavanite who perused them - the kindergarten sandpit, the great Banyan trees around which morning assemblies were held, Kala Bhavan, AV Room, Dining Halls, Hostels, the mango tree that acted as an official bus-stop, the serpentine roads and busy corridors, the sanctum sanctorum that was supposed to be the Library (!), the four labs (Yes - the computer lab was not actually a gaming zone!!)....they all form distinct remembrances of a quite fantastic school-life. In retrospect, I can hardly imagine Bhavans as a mere school....it was a thriving, breathing mass of a thousand people constituting my daily dosage of life. When I felt depressed - Bhavans comforted me, when I felt lost - Bhavans guided me, when I felt conquered - Bhavans fought for me, when I felt joyous - Bhavans danced along with me, when I felt lonely - Bhavans spoke to me with breathless eloquence. It was a shoulder I could always rest my head upon, a heart I could always trust upon, hands which I could always expect to support me whenever I stumbled - it was an embodiment of a parental institution of philanthropic credentials.
What Bhavans taught me in these fourteen years will definitely remain etched in the crypts of my mind forever. It has taught me that education is not congruent to schooling - it is a lifelong journey that always presents rosier detours and harsh hurdles. It taught me to stay humble even if I manage to break into echelons of power, it taught me to fly in the heavens of knowledge with wings of determination, it taught me to conjure up miracles when no other means were in sight, it taught me to consider every darkness as a premonition for a brighter day tomorrow, it taught me to grow and yet remain loyal to my roots. I know I may sound a trifle complacent when I talk about my stellar academic career in school so I will try to be brief about it. Bhavans has showered me with glories and praises that will always serve as a reminder to me that if I can find a strong enough 'Why?', I will always come up with an effective 'How?'. I learnt to believe in my abilities, to hate losing but if defeated, be sporting enough to accept it and smart enough to deduce what went wrong. I topped my batch for thirteen consecutive years and though it took many sacrifices along the way, I still cherish the picture of my parents' smiles when they heard of my success each year, year after year. When you are in school with a hundred other students as old as you and equally eager to establish their identities in that mini-world, it is important to excel in a particular field to stand out. I chose to make academics my forte and it wouldn't be far from the truth to say that I met with astounding success. Bhavans also gave me friends whose impact in my life has been enormous, friends whose meteoric support to me has always harboured my joys and bore the brunt of my sorrows. Even today, I breath a silent prayer to invoke the most magnanimous of Almighty's blessings on them and wish them success and good fortune wherever in the world they happen to be. When we go beyond this life, I pledge my attendance to a grand reunion at a place where no inhibitions can touch us.
Perfection is not a realistic attribute in this world and Bhavans was no exception. There indeed were cases of mismanagement and times when pandemonium reigned supreme in our school. There were also blatant violations of discipline and obvious indications of a rapidly deteriorating moral standard of a place initiated by luminaries of honourable repute. Needless to say, the blame lay on everyone involved with the school - the administrators, the teachers as well as the students. However, the indomitable spirit of resilience that is so characteristic of Bhavans persisted with astonishing gusto. And still, I would rather be a part of a blundering-and-recovering Bhavans than a model school of mechanical academic precision. Till today, apart from the three thousand square feet that house my home, Bhavans remains the only place on the sphere of this planet that I feel connected to and where I unambiguously belong to. Now that I am in college, I realise that a Bhavanite always stands out from the crowd, a Bhavanite always moulds the world around him to lodge himself inside it, a Bhavanite has a distinctly superior probability of making the right decision for himself and taking the right course to reach what he has decided for himself. In modern slang (though I despise it) - We Bhavanites always rock. Today, I feel sad to think that its all over but I feel glad to think that it happened all the same. The journey was studded with both wonders and blunders but in the end what mattered is that the destination was reached with our foray into a brand, new world. The fact that I was fortunate enough to be a part of an institution like Bhavans remains a fond, endearing aspect of my life and I hope that someday I get a chance to repay the enormous debt that I find myself in with a sincerity and dedication which Bhavans has lavishly instilled in me.
PS: The full manuscript of this post was about thrice as long as this and primarily consisted of personal details and random references to apparently trivial (but actually absolutely critical) things like the food in our mess, various teachers and other aspects of Bhavans. I hesitantly cropped these details in the hope that a shorter version would be much more favourably and frequently read. Also, despite of the fact that a very few people know about the existence of this blog and even fewer people bother to read it, the blog still remains irrevocably public and subject to view for all eyes thriving in this world. Keeping this matter in mind, I have resisted taking potshots at anyone and have summarily painted a rather rosy picture of our school. The truth, as it always is, is kept buried in my mind and it will take more than words to spit it all out.
PPS: More details and pictures can be obtained from this ill-maintained website.
